Minutes of the Honorary Officers' meetings were not distributed, with files being for the Director's use only.

The minutes of the Honorary Officers meeting for 13 May 1969 refers to the Honorary Officers as a "nominations [for membership of Council and committees] committee and advisory committee to the Director" and there appears to have been around seven members, including, probably, the Chair of the Council of Trustees, the Vice-Chair, Honorary Treasurer, Honorary Secretary, Assistant Honorary Secretary and Chairman of the Overseas Aid Committee, plus any emeritus members.

By the 1990s there were four Honorary Officers: Chair, Vice-Chair, Honorary Treasurer and Honorary Secretary, but this was cut to three in the governance review of 1998, with the abolition of the Honorary Secretary post.

According to Anne Gornall, Trustees Officer, Honorary Officers were "deployed for decisions that need to be made quickly and are often quite urgent or sensitive". While Oxfam's Articles of Association do not establish a collective role for the Honorary Officers, they have taken on an advisory role to the Chair and Chief Executive on an informal basis.